The average mobile worker works 240 hours a year longer than the workforce in general.– iPass Mobile Workforce Report, May 24, 2011
75 percent of mobile workers work more hours due to workshifting. More than half (55 percent) were working at least 10 or more additional hours each week as a result of their more flexible schedules, and 12 percent were working 20 or more additional hours. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
Mobile workers are working before, during and after their commutes. 38 percent of mobile workers work before their commute, 25 percent work during their commute, and 37 percent work at night — each and every day. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
For many mobile workers, work is a never-ending cycle; 33 percent work again when they arrived home, 26 percent after dinner, and 19 percent said they work again after they put their children to bed at night. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
And forget about the lunch break! 37 percent of survey respondents worked during lunch every day, 66 percent at least once or twice per week. Not surprisingly, workers in North America were the most likely to work through their lunch hours. 45 percent of mobile workers in North America connected to technology during lunch every day. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
Mobile workers are not only shifting their work periods to different times of day, they are also working from a variety of different locations. The most common place outside the office is the homes, with 47 percent working from home daily and 99 percent at least occasionally. But these mobile workers do get out from time to time. 88 percent worked from the road; 84 percent from a coffee shop, restaurant or bar; and 77 percent worked outside using a city-mesh Wi-Fi at least on an occasional basis. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
Overwhelmingly, mobile workers reported that workshifting allows them to be more productive and efficient, with 79 percent reporting increased productivity and 78 percent reporting increased efficiency. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011During holidays and vacations an impressive 97 percent still stay connected to technology (up from 93 percent in 2010). Of the 97 percent of workers that did connect while on vacation, nearly all (94 percent) did so at least partly for work. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
67 percent of mobile workers took all or nearly all of their vacation days a year, while only 17 percent took less than half of their vacation time. When we looked at it by region, 81 percent of those in Europe, 63 percent those in North America, and 56 percent of those in Asia Pacific took all or nearly all of their vacation days. Only seven percent of those in Europe took less than half of their vacation time, compared to 21 percent of those in North America, and 24 percent in Asia Pacific. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
More than 69 percent of mobile workers checked into work at least daily, while 93 percent checked in at least weekly. But some mobile workers can hardly call their time away from the office “vacation.” 41 percent of these workers still checked in multiple times per day. 52 percent connected to make sure they didn’t fall behind on work, weren’t overwhelmed upon return to work, or to ensure completion of a work project. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
When an important personal event that interfered with their regular work schedule the vast majority of mobile workers workshifted—56 percent did their work later that night and 11 percent pushed it to the next day. Only 23 percent dropped items off their plate entirely or reprioritized their tasks, and just 9 percent stayed at work to get the job done. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
The majority of mobile employees (76 percent) used their smartphone for some work and some personal—38 percent mostly for work, 29 percent equal work and personal, and 8 percent mostly personal. But only 3 percent used their devices exclusively for personal reasons. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
43 percent of mobile workers store their smartphone within arm’s reach when they sleep at night. Those that do this are 60 percent more likely than average to wake during the night to check their smartphone. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, May 24, 2011
Those living in Asia Pacific are the least rested with 55 percent of mobile workers waking at least occasionally to check their smartphone or tablet, and 19 percent wake every night. Europeans are the most rested with only 27 percent waking at least occasionally, and 4 percent waking every night. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, May 24, 2011
29 percent of mobile workers find that their mobile technology usage causes friction in their personal relationships, specifically with their significant other or spouse. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, May 24, 2011
When mobile workers wake up in the morning, 35 percent check email before anything else, including getting dressed or eating breakfast. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, May 24, 2011
The average mobile worker used 2.68 mobile devices for work. Younger workers (those 44 and under) used slightly more mobile devices for work than older workers. Younger workers used more than 2.7 devices for work (age 34 and under used 2.70 devices, those 35 to 44 used 2.73 devices), compared to those over 55 who used 2.38 mobile devices. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
Even in early 2010, mobile employees preferred smartphones over laptops, even though it was months before Apple announced the iPad. Today the smartphone still wins with 49 percent of mobile employees selecting it as their one device of choice (down from 63 percent in 2010), compared to 27 percent who preferred a laptop, (down from 37 percent in the previous year). But the surprise latecomer was the tablet, with 20 percent of mobile workers selecting a tablet as their one device of choice. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
Mobile employees believe that there would be one über mobile device introduced in the next five years. Of those surveyed, 67 percent of mobile employees believed this was highly likely, while 30 percent believed it was unlikely. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
Smartphones
59 percent of mobile employees gave an emotional response when asked how they would feel if they went without their smartphones for a week – 52 percent would have a negative emotional response, and only seven percent would have a positive response. Among mobile employees with an emotional response, 40 percent would feel disoriented, 34 percent would feel distraught, and 10 percent would feel lonely without their smartphone. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
Of the 91 percent of survey respondents that had smartphones, 83 percent would define them as “business smartphones”. For 59 percent, their employers paid their entire business smartphone bill. An additional 11 percent received partial reimbursements from their employers for their business smartphone usage. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
The iPhone is now the top smartphone in the enterprise with 45 percent marketshare among mobile workers, up from 31 percent in 2010. Interestingly, iPhone market share is 10 percentage points above BlackBerry’s market share last year when it held the number one spot. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
And the BlackBerry has not really fallen from the top spot in so much as other smartphones have grown faster. BlackBerry market share has only declined slightly from 35 percent in 2010 to 32 percent today, while Android nearly doubled market share year over year, growing into the number three spot (surpassing Nokia/Symbian) with a 21 percent market share. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
The majority (77 percent) of enterprises provisioned BlackBerry smartphones, followed by 52 percent iPhones, 48 percent Android smartphones, and 46 percent Apple iPads. While we are seeing high BlackBerry numbers now, this is deceptive. Increasingly enterprises are supporting and provisioning multiple devices. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
Within the next 12 months, 67 percent of enterprises plan to provision iPhones and 64 percent will provision Android smartphones. So while 80 percent of enterprises will support BlackBerrys in the next 12 months (up from 77 percent today), that growth appears modest compared to the growth of other mobile devices. iPhones are growing by 29 percent in the enterprise and Android smartphones by 33 percent. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
The mix of corporate-provisioned versus individually liable has also shifted. Today 58 percent of companies provision smartphones to their employees; this is down from nearly two-thirds a year ago. 42 percent of employees have individually liable smartphones – they purchase and pay for their own devices. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
Laptops
42 percent of mobile employees leave their laptop at work and just use a smartphone or tablet in the evenings or on the weekends, at least occasionally. This was up from 38 percent in 2010. The habit of leaving the laptop at work was more frequent among younger employees than older. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
Tablets
The tablet market also continues to inch up and advance penetration in the workplace. 44 percent of mobile employees have some form of tablet, compared to 41 percent in the third quarter of this year and 33 percent in the second quarter. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
iPad remains the dominant tablet with 59 percent of tablet owners owning an iPad, and 47 percent owning the newer iPad 2. When you look at those who already have or intend to buy an iPad 2 within six months, the responses were remarkably consistent across all age groups at approximately 56 percent. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
The third most popular tablet with nine percent usage among tablet owners was the Samsung Galaxy. This is the strongest showing this year for a non-iPad tablet, indicating that there might just be a competitive marketplace yet for tablets. Also of note, the new Amazon, BlackBerry Playbook and Windows 8 tablets are making a showing, at least on the wish list for mobile employees in 2012. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
While 75 percent of tablet owners use their tablet for some work at least occasionally, only four percent use them for just work. And the majority of tablets used in the enterprise are purchased and paid for by employees (77 percent). – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
Within the next 12 months, 66 percent of enterprises plan to provision iPads and 44 percent will provision Android tablets. iPads will grow by 43 percent, and Android tablets by 132 percent. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
More than a third of all enterprises currently allow the use of iPads (35 percent iPad, and 37 percent iPad 2). An additional 21 percent of enterprises are currently piloting iPad 2s and Android tablets. RIM BlackBerry PlayBooks are most likely to be banned from access by a company (26 percent), followed by Android-based tablets at 17 percent. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
81 percent of enterprises supported the use of tablets by executives, followed by 57 percent for sales representatives, and 54 percent for their marketing teams. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
41 percent of IT managers believed they had less control over their employees’ choice of devices than a year ago, and 37 percent felt it was about the same. Just one in fi ve (21 percent) stated that they had increased control over their employees’ mobile choices. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
The majority of enterprises offer their employees some choice (63 percent) – 44 percent can select from a list of smartphones, and an additional 19 percent can use any device they choose to access corporate resources. While 28 percent of mobile workers given no choice when it came to smartphone selection. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
47 percent of enterprises recently changing corporate guidelines regarding non-IT managed devices. This has helped accommodate the introduction of the iPad, Android tablets, and smartphones. By company size, 42 percent of small to medium-sized enterprises and 51 percent of large enterprises had changed their policies regarding non-IT managed devices. Overall, 73 percent of enterprises were allowing non-IT managed devices to access corporate resources, while 26 percent did not allow non-IT managed devices. Based on company size, 82 percent of small to medium enterprises and 66 percent of large enterprises allowed non-IT managed devices to access corporate resources. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
61 percent of IT departments had made a provisioning exception for a “specialized member” (often an executive). 57 percent had done this more than once. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
IT is continually investing in a wide range of mobile applications. The top-five applications indicated in the survey were Wi-Fi connectivity, secure corporate email, note-taking applications, offi ce suites, and Web conferencing. The bottom-fi ve included human resources, project management, fi eld services, and groupware. These applications are all addressing the prime reason for the existence of mobile devices – namely employee productivity. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
60 percent of mobile workers checked in using their smartphone with a service like Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, and Shopkick. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
66 percent of mobile workers had checked out (made a purchase or other transaction) using their smartphone). – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
87 percent of mobile workers used their smartphone for notifications such as sports scores, Facebook updates, SMS text messages, or other always-on applications. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
57 percent of mobile workers had used their smartphone as an e-ticket or mobile boarding card. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
44 percent of mobile workers used their smartphone to scan barcodes and compare prices. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
36 percent used their tablets most frequently to send and receive email, 35 percent to surf the Internet, 12 percent to read electronic books, newspapers and magazines, and 7 percent to watch video content. Younger workers (those 34 and under) were more likely to use their tablets to surf the Internet (39 percent), versus older workers (those 55 and older) who were more likely to use their tablets to send and receive email (48 percent). – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
Two of the three services that tablet users ranked most useful when they travel were centered on connectivity. Considering that 85 percent of tablet users used Wi-Fi for their connectivity, it makes sense. The top three services were:
– iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
And how do enterprises get these applications onto their employees’ mobile devices? 38 percent are making mobile applications available from a network resource, 37 percent have pre-installed mobile applications on their employees’ smartphones or tablets, 30 percent provide browser access to cloud-based applications, and 29 percent have their employees go through an app store to download the applications themselves. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
The mobile workforce still felt most productive in the office (46 percent), followed by working from home (38 percent). For female mobile workers, 43 percent felt most productive in the office, and 43 percent felt most productive at home. Male workers responses were more in line with the average for the survey. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
Those 35 and older felt more productive working outside of the office (home, café, or traveling), than those 34 and under. Despite the popular perception that workers under 34 are the “work-anywhere generation,” the majority felt most productive working in the office (53 percent). This probably has to do with the seniority and role that the employee plays in the organization. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
On the flipside, mobile workers felt least productive when they traveled or commuted. 30 percent felt least productive on an airplane and 29 percent felt least productive on public transportation. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
On average, mobile workers really didn’t waste that much time during the day on technology distractions – only about 28 minutes – and the top two reasons were work-related (one email and two technical issues). 59 percent wasted 30 minutes or less, and 41 percent wasted 30 minutes or more. 18 percent wasted more than one hour a day on technical distractions. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
Among mobile employees, the top-five business applications for the smartphone or tablet beyond email are:
– iPass Mobile Workforce Report, May 24, 2011
Technology Savvy
Most mobile workers described themselves as highly proficient when it comes to technology (69 percent), compared to six percent who rated themselves as fairly proficient or non-proficient. This high level of proficiency is out of necessity. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
Younger workers felt more technically capable, with 75 percent of those between age 22 and 34 stating they were highly proficient. These workers were weaned on technology, with almost all of the mobile tools they are using available to them at an early age. However, the big differences in technical proficiency existed mainly between those under 54 and those over 55. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
And mobile workers only contacted IT as a last resort (81 percent), while two percent had IT on speed dial. Younger workers were far more likely to never contact the IT department with a technical problem, with 30 percent in the 22-34 age group, while only 12 percent responded this way in the oldest age group. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
48 percent of IT departments stated that their employees contacted IT more with technical support issues than they did two years ago. 34 percent believed it was the same, and just 12 percent believed the number had dropped from two years ago. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
Not only were employees contacting IT for technical support with mobile-application issues more frequently, the issues were more demanding. 45 percent of IT departments stated that the IT problems were more complex than two years ago, while 27 percent found them the same, and only seven percent believed the issues were less complex than two years ago. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
And in the future, an optimistic 58 percent saw future mobility developments making technology easier and contributing to their increased proficiency, 39 percent thought this might happen, while three percent believed it will never be so or is unlikely. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
64 percent of mobile workers felt they were better able to balance their work load with personal commitments, and not surprisingly, more than half (51 percent) felt more relaxed as a result of this improved balance. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
Even with 95 percent of employees stating that their employers currently either encouraged or tolerated workshifting—40 percent would like to have an even more flexible work environment. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
Today’s mobile workers place a high value on their flexibility. According to this quarter’s survey results, if mobile employees aren’t getting enough flexibility at work, 33 percent would seek employment elsewhere, 57 percent would be less satisfied with their job, and 45 percent would feel less productive. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
At this point in time, mobile workers are more connected, but they are increasingly finding pockets of time to disconnect in order to maintain balance. When we asked employees this quarter if they ever disconnected from technology during their waking hours—more than two thirds (68 percent) did, compared to just 47 percent in 2010. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
This quarter’s mobile workers were disconnecting and finding balance for a variety of excellent reasons. 48 percent disconnected to spend more time with families; 47 percent during theater, stage, or other performances; and 35 percent during dinners at home. They also disconnected when their connectivity options were both limited or unavailable—39 percent during air travel, and 36 percent while in a connectivity dead zone. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
27 percent of mobile workers had implemented digital downtime every day, a time during their waking hours when they purposely disconnected from technology. Female mobile workers were more likely to have instituted digital downtime (34 percent) followed by those in the 45 to 54 age group (30 percent). – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
79 percent of mobile workers use their smartphones for some combination of work and personal business. Only seven percent use their smartphone exclusively for work. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
Studies show the average adult needs seven to nine hours of sleep per night, and many mobile workers average nearly seven hours. However, one in four mobile workers didn’t sleep enough (less than six hours a night). This was highest among 35 to 54 year olds. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
And one in three mobile workers claimed they got less sleep because of work. When asked about sleep, 52 percent of mobile workers said that their mobile work habits affected their sleep – 35 percent negatively, and 16 percent felt more tired and went to sleep earlier. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
While 45 percent of mobile workers exercised regularly within the recommended weekly total, 56 percent exercised erratically or not at all. 60 percent cited work as the number one reason that they didn’t get as much exercise as they should. For those who never exercised, the number one reason was that they didn’t have the time (22 percent). – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
When asked who had the majority of the mobile budget within the company, the study revealed that 65 percent of IT departments owned the corporate-wide mobility spend, up from 48 percent in 2010. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
The average spend for data connectivity charges across laptops, smartphones, and tablets varied by employee classification:
– iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
68 percent of IT managers believed their mobility costs would go up over the next 12 months, and 24 percent believed expenditures would rise by over 10 percent. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
The bulk of the increase was attributed to rise in the number of mobile users and employees’ expanding use of multiple devices:
– iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
In 2011, 68 percent of enterprises audited their mobility spend annually, quarterly, or monthly, compared to 65 percent in 2010. But there are still many enterprises (21 percent) that rarely or never audit their mobility spend. – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
Excessive roaming charges remained a significant issue for 43 percent of mobile employees. The actual number of employees racking up large roaming bills is probably higher than that number, since 13 percent of respondents weren’t aware of their usage. These workers didn’t know if they had ever received an excessive roaming bill or not. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
80 percent of mobile employees had received a roaming bill in the last year. And for 5 percent, the total had exceeded a whopping $1,000. The most startling result was that over a fifth (22 percent) of all respondents did not know what their roaming charges were since their employers paid their bills. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
46 percent of IT respondents admitted to experiencing a security problem related to an employee with an unprovisioned device. Typical security problems included: 38 percent with a lost, stolen, or misplaced phone; 26 percent had an unsecured phone; 5 percent had data stolen (an external attack) and made public from access to a mobile device (with no data loss prevention capabilities); and 4 percent where data was leaked (via an internal breach) from non-secure access to a mobile device (with no data loss prevention mechanisms in place). – iPass Mobile Enterprise Report (a survey of IT professionals), September 29, 2011
21 percent of mobile workers had experienced a security issue related to a smartphone (lost, stolen, hacked, or contracted a virus) similar to 2010 (19 percent). Workers in the 22-34 age group were nearly three times more likely to have their smartphones lost or stolen (20 percent) versus the oldest (55-64) age group at eight percent. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
Technology issues not only wasted time for the mobile worker, but were also the biggest barrier to mobile working. 33 percent named network coverage outside the office as their biggest barrier, followed by access to applications on the go (25 percent). – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, November 16, 2011
34 percent of today’s mobile workers would be willing to pay for either a worldwide or regional Wi-Fi plan, and an additional 26 percent would pay a per-use fee as part of their existing mobile plan. 24 percent expected Wi-Fi to be free from their carrier, and only 17 percent would either not pay for a Wi-Fi plan in any case, or didn’t use the service. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
On the road, 68 percent of mobile workers will pay for a faster connection at a hotel even when a free network is also available. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, May 24, 2011
Overall, 87 percent of mobile workers were satisfied with their mobile service (which includes voice and data). But when it comes to data service, only 57 percent were satisfied with their network coverage, and just 46 percent were satisfied with their network speed. Mobile workers were more satisfied with voice services (73 percent were satisfied with voice coverage and 77 percent were satisfied with voice quality). – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
Of the broader mobile workforce respondents, 50 percent of mobile workers kept Wi-Fi on “all the time” on their smartphone. 27 percent turned Wi-Fi on when 3G was not available, 27 percent turned Wi-Fi on when 3G performance was poor, and 40 percent when they traveled internationally. In terms of how much time “all the time” works out to be, 59 percent of mobile workers used Wi-Fi on their smartphone at least one hour per day. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
44 percent of mobile employees most frequently used Wi-Fi on their smartphones at home, 17 percent in the office, 10 percent at an airport, and 8 percent in a hotel. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
34 percent of survey respondents used less than 500 MB of data a month; while 39 percent used more than 500 MB (8 percent used more than 2 GB). Only 23 percent didn’t know how much they consumed in a month, and an additional 5 percent didn’t care. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, March 1, 2011
Inflight Wi-Fi
Year over year, we’ve seen Inflight Wi-Fi users grow from 40 percent of respondents in 2010—to 53 percent in 2011. – iPass Mobile Workforce Report, August 23, 2011
